Paradoxical Composition
by irish d' salmon luver
Summary: Series of one-shoots for Toka-Chii's THAT UNIQUE FLAIR Challenge. ShunXJulie central. Rate changed to T for reason that you have to find out inside. This chapter: They were surrounded. Blood was everywhere. They had to face "them" in order to survive. He vowed to protect the girl who already lost her hope. A happy, bright future was just a mere dream for them.
1. Of Shopping and Sorry

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **It's my first-ever published Bakugan story, and I'm starting it with crack pairing. Meh, if you read my other stories, you could find my obsession of crack pairing so easily. And I made this story as commission for Toka-Chii's THAT UNIQUE FLAIR Challenge. Hope you'll enjoy this messed-up story.

**Disclaimer:** If I ever own Bakugan Battle Brawler and New Vestroia, Julie won't be with that blonde hat-wearer. No offense to other blonde hat-wearers.

**XXX**

**Chapter 01: Of Shopping and Sorry**

He was trapped.

Literally.

Not only he was got caught by the loudmouth Australian, he was forced to accompany her for some "shopping", which means, lotsa stuffs to buy and lotsa shopping bags to be brought.

If only god really exists, this must be his pathetic joke.

**XXX**

"Shun, come over here! Which one do you think is cuter: the pink, the red or the purple?" the bubbly girl shoved three pairs of sweater in front of Shun's face. The ninja's bored face didn't betray his equally bored voice, "I. Hate. Pink. And red."

'And that's for a good reason,' he thought as his mind wandered for some loudmouth silver haired girl and red-wearer brown haired boy.

The statement made Julie gasped exaggeratedly, "OMG Shun, so you hate ALL my clothes from the very beginning??"

The stoic boy eyed the girl before him. He recalled her attire from the very first time they've ever met. Pink turtleneck and shorts with the same color. The second time they met, a stripped-pink-and-gray tank top with maroon shorts. Right now, Julie wore a pastel pink baby-doll dress that reached just above her knees with spaghetti straps, a purplish pink cardigan that she left unbuttoned and a pair of maroon velvet ankle-boots. An equally maroon rose corsage adorned the dress. He also took notice of her now-loosely-braided hair. Well, even _he_ had to admit that Julie Makimoto was quite stylish. But like hell he would say that out loud.

"Let's just say that I'm not really fond with the way you always wear something pink everyday," Shun sighed. Julie pouted again, but she decided to let this one passed. He noted that she picked the purple one and tossed away the other two. Her eyes caught another sweaters, this time were yellow and white. Her expression brightened again as she asked the silent boy happily, "Hey, do you think this would suit Runo and Alice?"

"Why do you always asking me about my opinion while knowing that I'm the least interested with this kind of thing?!" he snapped. Gosh, this shopping thing took nearly two hours and she didn't show any sign to quit soon. He already reached his limit and thus decided this torture of him to end.

'It's not like she would be overly upset over something like this. She was _that_ Julie, after all,' he secretly added.

But the outcome was beyond his expectation.

The bright expression faded. She was just standing there… stunned. He expected her to burst into tears or maybe angry and lost her interest with the shopping, but there Julie was standing still with big round indigo eyes opened wide and her lips slightly gaped. It didn't last long though; the very next second she put on a smallest smile of her, with a hint of sadness and regret in her eyes.

"Sorry." That was all she said.

She didn't run away like he predicted she would. She just turned her body and marched again between the aisles of the shop. Shun watched her back; her shoulders trembled slightly and her hands clutched the sweaters tightly. He knew this body language.

Julie was trying to hold back her tears.

**XXX**

They kept walking in silence. Shun felt a bit regretful of what he'd said before to her, but he couldn't bring himself to excuse his misbehavior to her. He eyed her again; silver braided hair swayed softly over her back, the dress that swirled every time she walked, her even steps, her stiff shoulders…

But what his mind saw was grayish purple eyes saddened as the silence grew between them for every second.

_I couldn't look at her the same way again._

Because what was in front of him right now is the side of Julie he never knew. She wasn't the bubbly, positive girl she used to be, the girl whom he knew should be. Right now, she was a broken-hearted and spiritless Julie.

Just Julie.

**XXX**

"Hey,"

The soft voice just like an alarm sound that awaken Shun. The boy focused his mind again to the girl in front of him. Julie didn't face him though; she just merely glanced over his side with that regret look still plastered over her eyes.

"I'm sorry for dragging you all the way here to accompany me. I mean, I never considered your feelings. If I know you really don't want to be with me that much, I wouldn't force you like this."

—_No…_

"I guess it didn't work, huh…"

"…?"

"I mean, I was always thinking about some ways to get us closer, but it never seemed to work. Out of the other Brawlers, you were the most distant one, Shun. For me, you are an unreachable sky."

When there was no reply, she continued.

"I always thought could it be that Shun Kazami hated Julie Makimoto forever? Isn't there any chance for them to be a close friend? Would it hurt me to get close to this sky? Will I reach it, or will I fall?"

Julie now faced the silenced Shun.

"I tried to think for the answer, but nothing seemed to come in my mind. I just got blank answer, so I always ended up thinking: I should get closer to him, so I might find the answer."

The big, round indigo eyes found the amber orbs.

"That's why I'm asking you to accompany me. That's why I'm dragging you here. That's why I'm bugging you with all those stupid questions. That's why… that's why I'm acting like this and mumbling something stupid and bore you with my idiotic attitude… I'm sorry."

She turned her body again and ready to make some dash, but a hand sprung and took hold of hers and stopped her at her track. Julie didn't dare to look at the person behind her, so she just stared at the ground, suddenly noticing that her shoes had a little speck.

'It won't come off easily,' she thought idly, anything to distract her from certain raven haired ninja that was holding her hand.

"Thank you."

Indigo orbs went rounder.

"…thank you for asking me to come with you."

Pinkish tints began to appear on creamy skin of his face.

"Well, I do think that these yellow and white sweaters would be great for Runo and Alice."

Smile re-appeared on her full lips.

"Oh by the way, I actually… feel kinda glad you picked the purple one. Just imagine you wearing red makes me remember you hugging Dan."

Now it was her turn to blush.

"And I'm sick of pink."

"…Let's just say I'm letting you pass this time for insulting my obsession with pink."

**XXX**

**A.R:** Somehow, the ending was different from the one I was thinking… **cough**OOC**cough** Well, one chapter is done; hopefully my holiday spirit will lift my imagination up… I have some ideas for this one-shoot series, just pray that I won't get too deep with my relationship with my greatest sin: SLOTH.


	2. Of Summer and Haircut

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **Warning: Full of crappiness and OOC-ness. I suggest you to NOT read this one because it's crappy. It contains only a tiny bit of ShunXJulie (well, maybe if you squint your eyes a little bit… and see it from a straw's hole). Maybe too much Facebook and lots of doujinshi did a severe damage to my brain and imagination…

**Disclaimer:** Let's see… Julie's still with Billy? Check. Shun's hair still short? Check. Shun isn't with Julie? Check. Well, as you guys can see, I don't own Bakugan.

**XXX**

**Chapter 02: Of Summer and Haircut**

The Brawlers were meeting via the chat room. They were discussing their next meeting, which would be held at Misaki's place, as usual. It was exactly one year after they saved the world from the assault of Naga and their separation with their Bakugan, and they haven't met face to face with each other since then. They decided to meet this very weekend, and as for anticipation, Runo gave a warning for the non-Japanese residence Brawlers, a.k.a. Julie and Alice.

"I warn you, it is summer in Japan, and it's so FREAKING HOT! I just hope that you guys can cope with the blazing temperature and adapt quickly, because it will be a drag to hear **someone** (she glared at the face of Julie) whining over and over."

"Eeeehhh?? But wouldn't it be, like, kinda hard for Alice and I to adapt with the heat while our long hair doesn't help at all to subside the heat??" Julie pouted as she took a hold of her untied (self-proclaimed) gorgeous, shiny, shimmering and silky hair.

"Now, now, I don't think my hair would be problem at all… We can always tie our hair, right, Julie?" suggested the peacemaker, Alice. It would be better for them all to put an end of it, before the princess wailed.

"But still—"

"If you find it hard, why don't you just cut your hair?"

The entire chat room went silent. Well, it was a good reason, because it was Shun who just said the last sentence. No one, and I mean NO ONE, ever suggested the prissy Julie Makimoto to cut her (self-proclaimed) gorgeous, shiny, shimmering and silky hair. It was the pride of the sliver haired girl, and they all knew that she would rather be dying than to have her hair cut. And now Shun just broke the safety line.

Their silence was cracked by a whisper from the Subterra Brawler.

"Shun… how dare you…"

Just for information, Dan, Runo, Marucho, Alice, and maybe even Shun, never saw or imagined Julie with this kind of expression. Sure she cried a lot and exaggerating everything, given to her drama queen abilities, but to finally see a Julie Makimoto glared while her bangs covered half of her face, showing only one of her murderous bloodshot eye while she gritted her teeth… even a mutated vampire could scare them less.

"HOW DARE YOU TOLD ME TO CUT MY (self-proclaimed) GORGEOUS, SHINY, SHIMMERING AND SILKY HAIR?!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IS THE SACRIFICE TO GROW MY HAIR TO SUCH LENGTH?!"

"It's just a hair; don't make such a fuss of it."

"Just hair, you said? Why don't YOU cut your hair, Shun?" Julie snickered while keeping her murderous look, making her looked more lethal than before. 'God, she snaps', thought the other Brawlers.

A drop of sweat trickled down Shun's face.

"W-what are you talking about…?"

The grin on her full lips just went wider.

"I said…" she spoke slowly, oh _terribly_ slowly.

"…why don't YOU—" she pointed her finger to his direction (well, his picture at the monitor).

"—cut—" she made a scissor shape out of her fingers.

"—your hair—" her scissor-shaped fingers made a cutting gesture through her own hair.

"—Shun…?" she ended it with a flick of her fingers and a sneer.

—_The __**ninjaboy51**__ has just logged off—_

"Che, what a coward."

**XXX**

-The weekend-

"OMG, it's been, like, centuries since we last meet!! I really miss you guys!!" squealed the loudest girl in the Brawler, Julie Makimoto.

"Jeez, Julie, we just video-chatted four days ago," Runo sighed at the sight Julie hugging everyone, and she managed to dodge her deadly hug and deliver a blow to her head. "Serve you right," grinned the blue-haired girl.

"That HURTS, Runo! It seems that the only thing growing from you is just your power!"

"WHAT?!! SAY IT AGAIN!!"

"Hey, chill down, let us just wait for Shun," said Marucho, obviously trying to change the subject.

"I bet he just chickened out. There's no way he would cut his drop dead gorgeous long black hair—"

Julie was interrupted by a sound of opened door. But that was not the one that stopped her from talking. It was… the sight of the person who opened the door. A very unusual sight.

It was Shun.

No, it wasn't that Shun was unusual.

It was… the sight of short-haired Shun that _was_ unusual.

—_Dead silence—_

"Umm…Hi…?"

**XXX**

"OMG SHUN YOU REALLY CUT YOUR HAIR!!" the Brawlers shouted altogether and soon gathered around Shun. His brand-new neck length hair became a petting station for everyone. He just grunted back at all those bombarded question they posed at him, but still, he noticed one peculiar person who just standing still, mouth gaped, eyes glued on his face.

Why the hell Julie stared at him like that? Supposed she admit her defeat over their silly 'dispute' back then, or maybe just laughing her guts off to take her words seriously, no? He might not want to admit it, but one of the reasons he cut his hair was to prove to her that he, Shun Kazami, would never, ever chickened out from a challenge. It would put a severe damage to his pride to do so, moreover from _her_ challenge.

So why did he see regret in her eyes?

**XXX**

Everybody was having fun. Well, except for the sulking Julie and irritated-looking Shun. While the others were chatting happily and even make some fuss, the two were just sitting quietly at the corner, which was quite eerie, giving the credit to Julie as the bubbly and noisy princess. But after awhile, the said princess decided to break the silence. She just couldn't stand the tense atmosphere between her and her silent company.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb, Shun. You won't be sitting here with me without purpose. You can never stand my cheerful personality."

"…right…"

"So, shoot it."

"I'm just curious…"

"About what?"

"Well, about…" Shun flickered his hair a little.

Julie just stared at him. "About…?"

"This…" he pointed at his new hair.

"…what about it?"

Shun sighed. It was tempting for him to just blurt it all, it was no use to give in to his emotion and then cause a commotion here. He still had an image to keep.

"I'm just curious about what are you thinking, seeing me with this new haircut."

"Why does it matter to you?" Julie lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling a bit nervous about where this conversation might go.

"You were the one who challenged me to cut my hair. I at least deserve some feedback then."

She glanced at his direction, "It's nice."

One elegant eyebrow arched, "Nice?"

"Uh-huh."

"Just nice?"

"What? Do you expect more comments from me?"

"I'm kind of expecting you commenting of how brave I am to really cut down my hair over your silly challenge."

"Think so high of yourself… Well, if I must say, you're not brave, Shun Kazami. You're just a simple-minded simpleton," she fisted her hand.

"I am… a simpleton?" he gritted. This girl really now how to push his button.

Her fist trembled, "You took a silly challenge so seriously, how I can't call you a simple-minded simpleton?! The Shun Kazami I know would just shrug it off and told me to get lost!"

She looked thoroughly into his amber eyes.

"The you that I know… would never take me seriously…"

The silver haired girl stood up, "I'm telling what I'm really thinking about: honestly, I really think your old long hair suited you best."

With that, she walked away from him and joined the other, leaving Shun behind with his contemplation.

**XXX**

**A/R:** Just like I warned you guys before, this chapter is a CRAP. I actually made this chapter as a protest for Shun's new haircut. GIVE ME BACK THE OLD LONG HAIRED SHUN!!!!

Sorry about the lack of fluffiness. I want to make a full-fluffiness ending, but then it would be terribly long for a one-shoot…


	3. Of Tea Ceremony and Elegance

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **I would never bother with the detail of this so-called Chanoyu thing. I want to write a fanfic, not the definition and description of a tea ceremony.

**Disclaimer:** Hey, I don't even have the Bakugan toys! How am I supposed to have the Bakugan Battle Brawlers?!

**XXX**

**Chapter 03: Of Tea Ceremony and Elegance**

_It began with an invitation._

"Chanoyu? What the heck is that?" asked the ever-so-curious Julie.

"Chanoyu, or chadō, is a Japanese tea ceremony. It's a very traditional culture of our country, and it's quite prestigious. You can say a woman considered elegant if she could perform the ceremony perfectly," explained Runo like it was a matter of fact. The Brawlers had just gotten an invitation of Chanoyu from Shun. His grandpa was **very **bored, and decided it would be the best opportunity to teach some manner to those teens.

Julie stared at her blue haired friend with her greatest interest.

"Why does tea-making need a ceremony?"

Runo sighed. Sometimes people could be so ignorant.

**XXX**

"Do we have to wear kimono? OMG, it's so exciting!!" exclaimed Julie. Runo's mother lent some of her old kimono to Julie and Alice because it was impossible for them to borrow Runo, given the fact she was the smallest girl of the group. Julie chose the pink one (of course), Alice picked a green kimono and Runo decided to wear her white kimono.

"Actually, nowadays we don't have to wear kimono. You can wear something formal. But I want to see you girls wear one, tee-hee," Runo's mother smiled cheerfully. Runo's father was already waiting with camera in his hand.

"Remember, we have to keep our composure. Talk as necessary, move elegantly, and no whimpering," Runo glared at Julie, "There will be no seat, we have to kneel down. If you're clueless of what to do, just watch me. I've come to Chanoyu before, so I know the rules. Questions?"

"How long is Chanoyu?" asked Alice.

"It depends. Maybe it lasts for one hour or so."

A look of horror appeared on Julie's face.

"You mean… we have to kneel down for, like, one hour??"

Runo nodded. "Well, it might be hard for you, Julie. You can't even sit down properly for half an hour." Alice slapped Runo's hand lightly, "That's harsh, Runo. Sure Julie can manage herself, right Julie?"

Alice looked at her other friend, only to find the silver haired girl already turned into stone with mortified look plastered on her face.

**XXX**

The Brawlers arrived at Shun's place. The ninja boy had expected them and greeted them, but a look of surprise still managed to escape from his eyes as he saw Julie came too. He didn't miss her horrified expression. He had guessed she had been told the rules of Chanoyu, and concluded that she might back off. That's why he surprised to see her here, but amused to see the horror on her face.

'Let's see how long she can stand it,' he thought, 'she may lack of elegance, but she sure is full of guts.'

**XXX**

"I'm gonna die."

It was only fifteen minutes since the ceremony started, but for poor Julie, it seemed like one century in hell. She couldn't feel her feet, the kimono sucked her breath away, and the silence… she could bear her feet, she could bear the killer kimono, but she couldn't bear the silence! How was she supposed to stay quiet along the ceremony?!

The tension built so much, she couldn't hold it any longer, and she fainted. Just fainted.

**XXX**

"You suck, you know that?"

Julie glared at Shun. It seemed when she fainted, Shun was the one to carry her to guest bedroom. The others might be continuing the so-called Chanoyu. She was a bit pissed to see that her friends prioritized the deadly ceremony before her, and the only person to be with her didn't worry about her condition at all. He insulted her instead.

"Oh, shut up, Shun. I don't need you to worsen my condition too," she pouted.

"Why did you come along in the first place? You know elegance and patient aren't your strong points."

"I'll make you take everything you've said."

_And it was postponed with an oath._

**XXX**

A month later, Shun received a Chanoyu invitation. He wouldn't be too surprise if it was an anonymous invitation from his grandpa's friend or so, but since he was invited by someone he **always** knew wouldn't capable to, he couldn't just ignore this invitation.

At the back of the envelope said_, Julie Makimoto_.

**XXX**

Despite of his reluctance, he still went to -_that_- event. He had to admit, he was curious of how that clumsy Julie served the tea. No, even to imagine her kneeled down still for half an hour in that deadly kimono seemed like a miraculous scene. For him, elegance was not something a Julie Makimoto would ever have.

So it stunned him to saw her walked gloriously to greet him, wrapped in a pastel blue kimono, like the color of the sky. She bowed slightly to him, gestured him to follow her to the tea room. He watched her preparing the tea equipments, her fingers move delicately around the bowl and the brush, her face looked so calm… It seemed as if she was entirely transformed into someone else.

It stressed him so much he couldn't even breathe and he… collapsed. Just collapsed.

**XXX**

"Julie, maybe you should stop."

"Stop what?"

_What?_

"Don't act fool. Stop teasing him like this!"

"He started it, he asked for it."

_What is that noise?_

"Poor Shun, he's just getting toyed by this over drama-llama queen."

"I told you, he asked for it!"

_Urgg… that ear-splitting shriek…_

"Umm… guys… Shun's not waking up…"

"You're responsible for this, Julie."

"What should I do? Do you guys expect me to wake him up with a kiss? He's not a prince worthy for my princess-free-from-all-curses kiss, you know."

_She's…_

"Noisy."

**XXX**

"What?"

He was taking a rest in the guest room when the troublemaker girl came and sat beside him. She brought along a bowl of tea with her. He could see the restless and nervous glance from her, and it irritated him more than usual.

"What."

"The others forced me to apologize to you," she blurted. Shun took a notice of her flushed cheeks, her lowered gaze, her pouted lips… enough evidences to say she was irritated and didn't really mean her words.

"Don't say sorry if you don't meant it."

"No, I meant it. I just don't like people forcing me to do something."

'Go figure,' thought Shun.

Julie sighed heavily, "Who would ever think an acting class for a month could bring such impact for you."

This picked the interest of Shun.

"Wait… all of this time… you've been acting?" asked him.

To his dismay, her expression brightened.

"Yup! You can't tell if I was acting right? I always knew the blood of acting rush through my veins!"

"You took acting class just so that you could awe me with your Chanoyu skill?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's…"

"Brilliant, huh?"

"Idiot."

"Why you—" Julie just wanted to blast her anger, but then suddenly quieted down, and let the air hung up for a while. After she calmed down, she offered the boy the bowl of tea she brought along before.

"Let just say I'm really sorry to make you upset for seeing me with such a drastic change. Please accept this tea I made earlier. You had already collapse, before you even tried it."

Shun eyed the girl for a while, obviously doubted her offering. But seeing her blushing cheeks and slightly trembling hands, he thought it would be rude even for him to reject her (probably) good intention. So he took a hold of the bowl from her hands, noting her ever delicate fingers brushed against his as he did this, and he didn't like the feel.

It was… bizarre.

Shun shrugged that feeling away and concentrated on the bowl of tea she had prepared for him. Julie stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to fully accept it and drink it. He idled for a while, learning her composure once again, and decided it wouldn't hurt to say these words:

"You finally learnt a bit of elegance, it seems."

The sight of the rose tinted cheeks on her bronzed skin was unforgettable. Shun nodded to himself, as if trying to convince himself that it would be safe to think that way. He let out a tiny smile as he took the bowl fully in his hands. He brought the bowl to his lips and sipped the tea, only to spurt out the contents and collapse again.

"I told you already, Shun, I took an acting class, not Chanoyu, so I can't guarantee how it tastes like."

_It ended up with a fainted young boy._

**XXX**

A/R: Another chapter is done! Now what theme should I do next…


	4. Of Stangers and Trust

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **I got the idea of this chapter after reading "Bitter Virgin", a manga by Kusunoki Kei. It's a really sad, tragic, yet beautiful manga, and I totally recommended it, especially for teenager girls, pregnant women and parents. You can download the manga scan or read it online, I don't care, but I warn you, get some tissues ready before you read it.

**Disclaimer:** Read the previously disclaimer. It's still the same condition.

**XXX**

**Chapter 04: Of Strangers and Trust**

He was the watcher, a guarding figure for his friends.

He didn't speak with his words, he spoke with his eyes.

He would always try to take a good care of his friends, even if it would cost his freedom. He would even risk his own life to save his friends. He always treasured them and felt content with just being close to them and support them with his unique, quiet way. And it seemed that his friends were aware of this; they accepted his silence and respected his space. After all, a ninja always needed some time alone and some lone space to watch over.

But this unspoken rule didn't have any effect with a certain person. Or rather, a particular girl.

She was loud, she was bubbly. She always said whatever crossed inside her mind, before she could even think about it. She was loud, and annoying. She always tried to butt into other's business. She always wanted to be the star and she was also loud. She didn't even reconsider her action might put people in another problem.

And she was REALLY loud.

She was the only person he didn't want to get close. He was sick of seeing her showing off her moderate skill and acting like she was the best in the world. He was sick of seeing her squeaking and squealing over something trivial. He was sick of her over-cheerfully way to express her feelings, even when she was sad. In one big conclusion, he was sick of her.

**XXX**

"I live within the spotlight. I shouldn't show any weakness, in any circumstance."

"How do you manage to be able to hide your true feelings like that?"

"I don't. That's why sometimes I want to just jump off of a building and feel my mind floating away from this body of mine."

"Don't talk about suicide. Even though I'm not very fond with your existence, I can't just ignore the fact that you're still my companion. And I don't like watching my companion die."

"That's one trait I like from you, Shun: honesty. And what makes me like you more, Shun, is the fact that we aren't close."

"And why is that?"

"Because the only time I could be honest is when I'm with strangers. And for me, you're the perfect stranger I've ever met."

"…"

"You're quiet, only talk when it's necessary, and you're not a two-face. We could manage our relationship as companions, nothing more, nothing less. You hate me, but you're not leaving me behind."

"…"

"I'm surrounded by those who called themselves my 'friends', but I couldn't feel any sincerity of their acts towards me. The only true friends for me are the Brawlers, and maybe even those Bakugan Defender guys."

"…"

"But sometimes, I don't feel like I belong to their world. I still can't really open up my heart to them. I'm afraid they won't accept me for the way I am."

"They won't."

"I know… But still, the feel of insecurity lingers in my mind."

**XXX**

The day she broke up with her boyfriend, he just watched her in silence. After all, he was just a watcher. The others were trying to comfort the broken hearted girl as they could.

"Don't cry," said Alice.

"You have to be strong," said Runo.

"After all, that boy's just a jerk!" said Dan.

"You'll surely find a better man," said Marucho.

She just replied them with a bright smile and said, "Don't worry. I won't break down."

**XXX**

At the end, there were only two of them. Few minutes passed without any exchange of word. But being bubbly as she was, she decided to break the silence.

"Really, I shouldn't trust someone so deeply like that. It only broke my heart when that someone betrayed my trust. I always know it; the only one you can trust is stranger."

"…"

"You won't say anything?"

"Nope."

"Even telling me not to cry?"

"Why should I say that when on the other hand you just wanted to cry?"

The spell was broken by those magic words.

At first it was just a drop, but soon it became rivulets of tears, streaming down freely from her indigo eyes. The tears she hid from her friends, just so she wouldn't shame herself in front of them. She didn't hold it any longer; she didn't have any power left to do so. And for her, it didn't matter to show her weakness in front of this solemn boy. The magician sat himself next to her, not too far, but not too close. He didn't say anything, just sat there and engulfed her cry in comfortable silence. She didn't mind it. He was just a stranger to her, after all.

You don't have to be ashamed in front of strangers.

**XXX**

**A/R**: Sorry for the long delay. I just concentrated so much with my drawings and I couldn't find a good theme. The next chapter might be longer to make, I think, for I have this mid term exams waiting, and assignments and tasks to do. I just hope there's something left in my brain after the horrid exams…


	5. Of Eyes and Lies

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **I'm still alive? Darn it. Oh, well, before I forget, this chapter was inspired by impracticality's fan fiction "empirical formula" or "phenolphthalein". This person really has awesome writing skill, especially in writing one-shoot.

**Disclaimer:** Even my crystal ball won't ever tell me when I will own Bakugan.

**XXX**

**Chapter 05: Of Eyes and Lies**

At the first time, he thought she was a simple one, almost simpleton. She said whatever she wanted to say, like she had no brake inside those plump lips of her. You can tell what she was thinking right now and then, he thought that she was as easy to read as an open book.

After being her friend for a while, he realized that she wasn't that simple at all.

He knew her true skin by a simple curiosity. He noticed that she never meant her words. Those words, which he thought were spoken by her so casually, were actually spoken with calculated mind and hid more meanings behind them. In other words, she'd been lying and making fool of herself for all this time. And how did he find out this truth?

Like it was mentioned before; by a simple curiosity.

He observed her eyes.

He'd been wondering why her eyes flickered mischievously at Runo as she flirted with Dan and said those all-but-nothing love words.

_**Translation**_: she didn't love or like Dan. What she loved was to make Runo pissed off.

He realized her eyes would glance at her right side whenever she suggested something ridiculous with such naivety it could rivaled a child, like she was the most intelligent person in the world.

_**Translation:**_ she also thought that her suggestion was ridiculous. Yep, she did it for the sake of sheer humor.

And at that time, when she was rejected again by her childhood friend Billy who chose Masquerade over her, he noticed her slightly misty eyes as she said to the others that she would be fine and would definitely bring him back.

_**Translation:**_ she better off dead then and now.

**XXX**

Since then, he made this a game: to decode what she truly felt. It turned out quite interesting, for she truly had colorful personalities inside her, much more than what she'd been showing to others. Who would've guess that a Julie Makimoto was a figure full of insecurity, doubts, and inferiority.

Her blatant way of speaking, her over-confidence, and her hyperactive demeanor deceived everyone, even their Brawler friends, maybe even her family. Maybe the only one who knew this side of her only her Bakugan, Gorem, and him, the outsider. But he was different from Gorem, who had this privilege of seeing her weak side. No, he was a peeping Tom, an uninvited person who was peeking inside her seemingly strong yet fragile heart.

**XXX**

They were at florist. The cold, aloof dark haired boy with the bubbly, silver haired girl, were sighted at the florist at the same time, but they didn't come together. She couldn't hide her surprise as she saw him there. And the bouquet of lilies in his hand just escalated her interest.

"Wow… I never thought you were the type to buy flowers for girl, Shun."

"Am not. I'm going to visit my mother's graveyard."

"Oh, sorry…" she dropped the conversation.

He watched her looking at the various flowers, eyes glimmering slightly at the sight of violets. Her smile widened as she found the roses. She called the shopkeeper while her finger pointed at the pink and red roses, "I would like some of these, please."

This picked his curiosity.

"Why did you choose the roses?"

She was taken aback with his question. Why he, of all the people, suddenly interested at her choice of flower? And why did he care?

Stuttering, she replied, "T-to decorate my room, of course. Roses are classic. They're pretty and I like it."

He could see her eyes wavered for a second.

"See ya," he turned around and walked outside, away from the baffled girl.

**XXX**

Several days later, a bouquet of violets arrived at her house. There was no name, no signature, and no hints of identity of the sender. But there was a card with message written in beautiful and artistic handwriting.

"_Violets suit you more."_

A smile escaped her glossy lips.

"Shy as ever."

Julie put the bouquet at the desk in her room, touched the purple petals softly. She could feel a warm and ticklish feeling inside her, a peculiar feeling that disturbed her since her encounter with the silent ninja at the florist. She wondered how the hell the boy knew that she liked violets more than roses, but decided to drop it off. She took one flower from the bouquet and held it close to her eyes.

"Violets. Just like my eye color."

**XXX**

**A/R:** How the heck it ended up with flowers??!! That just doesn't make sense!! *go smack her own head* I don't know for you guys, but I don't really like this chapter. Way too… vague, I guess…


	6. Of Strength and Pride

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **I'm quite heartbroken, for the last chapter I didn't get much review… maybe it really *that* sucks. As for the update, well… actually, I have plenty of time right now, but… let just say that my drawing spirit is more roaring than my writing spirit. Seriously, I bet my fat that my writing muse already gone suicide. I don't even know what I should do with my other fanfic ^^;

**Disclaimer:** *Knocking on Sega's door* Hello, could you please let me have Bakugan? I promise I will feed it, bathe it, and play with it *puppy eyes ON*

**XXX**

**Chapter 06: Of Strength and Pride**

"You know what, Shun? Let's battle!"

One elegant eyebrow arched.

"Battle?"

"Uh-huh."

"With you?"

"Yeah!"

"Right here, right now?"

"Yep! Yep!"

"Bakugan?"

"Nope! Fistfight!"

A look of pure amazement crossed on his face. Amber eyes stared inquisitively at the silver haired girl. The moment ago, without warning she opened a deck card and made him trapped inside another dimension, alone with her. He thought she was bored and thus decided to brawl with him, but what she was requesting was out of question. He knew she was an airhead, but to challenge him to a battle, nevertheless a fistfight? He was a ninja, and he could easily break someone's arm like snapping a twig, and everybody knew this fact, but this girl, without waver and doubt, asking him to battle.

"What are you waiting for, Shun? Let us begin!" she shouted, snapping him out of reverie. She already took her position, body crouched slightly, and arms stretched in front of her, fists balled.

'Dear Buddha, she's serious,' he sighed.

"I'm sorry. I don't do girls."

_**WHACK!**_

Shun could feel the sting of pain on his left cheek and coppery taste of blood inside his mouth. His eyes went wide; dumbfounded eyes betrayed his still calm posture.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Julie said with concerned eyes, but a smirk escaped her plump lips.

He blinked once, twice, and regained his scattered emotion… and pride. Never, NEVER he thought that anyone beside his gramps was able to land a fist at him. It was his _pride_, to be untouchable in any fight. And Julie just broke it all without even trying.

_And for a spoiled girl, she sure could punch like men._

Shun spitted the blood inside his mouth and wiped the remaining on his lips. He tried to move his mouth, checking the damage. It still hurt, but he didn't have any problem with speaking. It was a good thing she dragged him to this another dimension, or people would see him getting beaten by a girl.

"Why… do you want to battle?" he gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the stinging pain from the bitten flesh inside his mouth. Julie's smirk only went wider, and it sickened him. She definitely enjoyed this every moment.

"Why? Well, maybe you don't know, I've been training in martial arts for a while, and I think my progress is pretty good! So I think: to whom should I try it out? And who could be any better to be my practice partner than the silent ninja, Shun Kazami? Right?"

Shun could feel a comical sweat dropped on his head. _.stupid_.

"Like I've said before, I don't do girls. So just leave already," Shun turned his back and began to walk away from her.

"Awww… Are you **that** scared, Shun?"

He stopped walking.

"I never thought that with only one of my fist you would be back off from a fight. If only I knew this, I shouldn't punch you."

He balled his fist.

"Yep, I shouldn't punch you… I should've kicked you! In the nuts! So that you'll not be able to walk the same way again!"

A (almost) visible vein popped on his forehead.

_Don'tloseyourcoolnessdon'tloseyourcoolnessdon'tloseyourcoolness—_

"And then I'm gonna take a picture of you, kneeling at the ground, hands between your legs, silently hoping you're still able to make child…"

_—_

"Oh, shouldn't forget the video! I wonder how many people will view and like it if I put it on YouTube!"

_She'sjustbluffingshe'sjustbluffingshe'sjustbluffing—_

"I'm not bluffing, Shun. Here, I got my digital camera. And guess what? The Brawlers will get the privilege of seeing it first! Can't wait to let Dan, Runo, Marucho and Alice know about this!"

Shun could hear something snapped inside his head.

"Julie, you went too far. If you want to fight so much, fine, I'm going to give you a good one. Just don't regret it later."

"Same goes for you, Shun."

**XXX**

Hours passed, both Julie and Shun were still struggling to be the winner. Both had long reached their limit, but their pride told them to keep going until one gave up. Small and quick breaths echoed through the dimension and sweats covered the soil. Violet and light brown eyes hung low of fatigue.

But the girl and the boy still held their feet on the ground.

"Darn, Shun, why can't you just give up and say that you're a loser!"

"You're a loser."

"Change the subject first, please!"

"I'm not a loser."

"Don't change the verb!"

"Isn't it supposed to be your part to say that? You're barely standing, I know it."

"And I know that you can barely speak, right?" she snickered.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…why can't we admit that we're both on our limit?"

"I'm not tired! I can still go on!"

"I call that bullshit. Your feet are already shaking, and mine too. Your fists are trembling, and mine too. Your eyes can't focus anymore, and mine too. So let's stop this stupid fight."

"Only if you admit your lose."

Shun sighed. Maybe it was because of her attribute, or because she was a real simpleton, but even stubbornness had its limit. Both Julie and he were stubborn, but someone had to put a stop of this. And since he was more mature than the girl, he had to be the one to stop being stubborn and admit his lose. Just for this one, he let himself swallowed his pride.

Shun dropped his stance and closed his eyes, "Okay, okay, I lost. Now stop this fight and let us back to our dimension to treat our injuries. You might not be able to see it, but your face is all swollen and you have bruises all over your body. Don't you care about your appearance than me to mine?"

Julie dropped her fighting stance too and grinned widely, "My appearance is of no importance than your admittance of losing."

_Well, she at least can speak with some highly words, despite her stubbornness and stupidity…_

Shun sighed, "Well then, let's hurry up and go back—"

"Not so soon. I still want to talk with you."

The boy snapped his eyes open and almost shouted at her, but decided to shut his mouth as he saw her serious face. Julie was rarely serious, and when she was serious it was either bad or _worse_.

"…What do you want to talk about?"

"About Dan and Runo."

Shun could hear something snapped inside his heart. Could it be that Julie, the most airhead and idiot person he ever known, knew about—

"I know, Shun. I might be an airhead, but I'm not ignorant. Well, at least I'm not ignorant about my friends' romance."

He balled his fists, "And what could you possibly know about it?"

"You are jealous of them. Ever since Dan and Runo became a couple, you had this look on you and began to keep your distance from them."

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain from his bruised cheek and bitten lips. _I hope she was mistaken—_

"At first I thought that you were jealous because you like Runo or something like that, but then I realized just who you were really gazing to."

Damn.

Julie looked straight to Shun's eyes.

"You were looking at Dan."

**XXX**

The next thing Julie knew, she was thrown to the ground and Shun hovered her body with his hands gripped her shoulders tightly. He looked at her sternly, yet her gaze didn't waver; instead she looked at him with eyes of pity.

"What the— Don't look down on me!"

His grips on her shoulders tightened and marred her bronze skin. Julie winced at the pain but she didn't try to break free.

"What do you know, from all the people, about my feelings? Huh?"

Julie reached out her hand to caress Shun's trembling cheeks.

He was on the verge of crying.

"I never intent to judge you, peek into your heart, or look down on you," was her soft reply.

She felt his teardrops fell on her cheeks.

"He… is my best friend... he's my closest friend. after all we went through up until now, we can finally become friends again yet he became distant ever since he went out with Runo."

Shun let go of his grips on Julie's shoulders and move aside to sit beside her. Julie sat up while maintaining their close proximity; her hands covered the bruise on her shoulders.

"And you become jealous of Runo who got Dan's full attention to her, am I right?"

He nodded, "It's not like I come to hate Runo. I just don't like her hogging Dan to herself. Doesn't it irk you to see Dan always together with Runo? Or don't you have anymore feeling to Dan?"

Julie let out a small chuckle before answering "Oh, believe me, I want to tackle Runo so much when they were officially dating, but hey, it was Dan choice. I may be an airhead with dumb crush, but I know when I should stop playing around. Also, I don't want to compete with my own best friend. I think I cherish friendship more than romance."

Shun looked at the silver haired girl and found her smiled warmly with her eyes starring off to nowhere. He also noticed her misty eyes gleaming with unshed tears.

Screw his pride; it was nothing to compare with this girl's strength.

**XXX**

**A/R:** I was in doubt whether I should stop writing this chapter or give a proper ending. Well, I decided to just leave it as it is and leave the rest of the imagination to you readers: what Shun will do to comfort Julie? Will Julie or Shun go bawling their sorrow? Will they ever get out of the alternate dimension?

Sorry again for the LONG delay, I hope the next chapter will up before this year ends :D


	7. Of Foods, Drinks, and Personalities

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **Oh, surprise! I don't' keep my promise from the last chapter. My procrastination just get the better of me :D

Well, as fanservice, I give you more distinguish ShunXJulie fluffs. Hope this will appease your hunger. Beware of theOOCness though :p

**Disclaimer:**If I own Bakugan, Fabia would be **FABIO**. (S)he would be the most handsome chara ever in Bakugan series, even surpassing Shun *fangirl mode ON*

**XXX**

**Chapter 07: Of Foods, Drinks, and Personalities**

Shun never planned to sit together with the silver haired girl at the café. With just the two of them.

But here she was, waltzing her way into the café and took her seat across him. He was more irked than surprise to see the café's door opened and revealed none other than Julie, his Brawler companion. He was hoping to get some peace in this small, cozy café, enjoying a cup of coffee in this beautiful afternoon, but his peaceful moment was abruptly stopped as a pair of indigo eyes starred intently into his amber orbs.

"What a coincidence to meet you here, Shun!" the girl smiled widely at the silent boy.

"I never knew you come to this kind of peaceful place like this café, Julie. I thought you always go to crowded and noisy places like the malls or clubs," Shun blatantly spoke, sarcasm was apparent in his voice.

Julie decided to just brush off his sarcastic comment. Instead, she just smiled wider that Shun was afraid her face would split open. She took a look at the menu and after read it for a while, she called a waiter.

"One cappuccino and ginger cookies, please," she said as she flashed one of her most charming smile to the waiter. Shun rolled his eyes as the young waiter blushed a little while repeating her orders and then off he went.

"Do you always flirt with anyone at any place?"

Julie looked at him with confused eyes, "Eh? Does smile count as flirting?I always smile to everyone, you know? I just want to make good impression."

The older boy just sighed and then he sipped his coffee. The warm liquid gave him comfortable feeling, but soon it had to be ended. He wanted to finish his coffee and get out of that place as soon as possible so that he wouldn't spend the rest of his precious time with this bubbly and loud girl. So Shun finished his drink and stood up.

"Sorry Julie, I'm going now."

"Huh? But I just ordered cookies! I can't finish all of it by myself and it would be a waste to throw out such delicious treat, so I thought to eat it together with you! I even went to such length as to order ginger cookies rather than my usual chocolate dipped cookies, cause I thought you prefer something with stronger flavor than sweet."

Shun gritted his teeth to hold the anger escaped from his lips, "Then why did you order it in the place if you can't finish it all?"

"I thought to hang out together and have a conversation with you. It's a rare occasion to meet you here, and it's better to have something to eat while we talk," Julie winked cutely at the boy, but Shun just shrugged it off. She might have charmed the waiter but she couldn't charm him easily,though he had to admit bitterly that Julie was _indeed_ charming. At least his anger lessened.

Shun took a deep breath and released it slowly. He was ready to sacrifice his precious free time to accompany this bubbly girl, not because she was begging him oh-so-nicely, but because of the cookies. He hated if people threw away good food, and obviously he didn't want to see such delicious treat to be thrown away. This café indeed made the best cookies he ever tasted.

Not too long, Julie's order was served. Julie gave a "thanks" to the waiter (the same waiter who took her order, and he blushed again) and then took a sip of her cappuccino. The silverhaired girl looked at the silent young man in front of her and held out her hand, a gesture to offer the cookies to Shun. Shun eyed the cookies and the girl, and after a good length of pause he finally took one and put it inside his mouth. The girl before him smiled warmly at the sight and took one cookies for herself.

"Say, Shun, do you usually come to this place?" she bit her cookie.

"Not really… I seldom come here, just when I have some free time between brawling and my ninja training," he swallowed his cookie.

"Hmmm… well, I also rarely come to this place. It's, like, I only come here when I need to clear my head from insignificant thoughts, so it's, like, a real coincidence to meet you in this place, so don't think of me as stalker, will you?" she slowly took another bite from her cookies.

"How surprising. I seriously think you as one before, seeing you were stalking me all day and ambush me in doom dimension when you thought I was Masquerade," he noted sarcastically again as he took another cookie from the plate.

"It was, like, a long time ago! And I admit that I was dimwit back then. But then, when will you ever get stalked by a pretty girl such as I?" she swallowed the last bite of her cookie and licked the crumbs from her fingers. Shun didn't know if it was intentional or not, but she looked _almost_ seductive. _Almost_.

"But I have to admit, you pulled out unexpected trick back then. My gramps still amazed that he was beaten with a plastic mallet by ordinary girl," he said with a small grin as he chewed his cookie.

"Please, can we just, like, end that topic? You made me sound like super girl with special skill," she looked at her left side while held her hair to cover up her face. Did she just blush?

"I'm afraid I can't. Seeing you flustered like this just lift up my spirit," he couldn't hold back his smirk as the girl looked back at him with her mouth opened up as if she wanted to protest, but she stopped midway and closed her mouth again, her face was red. He watched her as she slumped at the table; her hand picked up a cookie and held it against her full lipsas she licked the cookie slowly.

'She must do it on purpose,' Shun thought as he felt heat rose up to his cheeks.

Julie licked the cookies again and then threw it inside her awaiting mouth finished it in one go. She licked the crumbs around her lips and she took another and another and another cookies. Shun eyed the girl, at loss of what to say to her. If he made a remark about how she looked like a glutton who ravaged the cookies, she might get bad mood and stormed off the café. But if it didn't get well, she would just become sullen and started crying and threw tantrum like a drama queen she was always been.

Finally the girl stopped taking and eating the cookies and a smile came back to her face, thought it was just small and almost transparent smile.

"You know what, Shun?"

"Hnn?"

"I always thought that ginger cookies are just like Alice. They are sweet but not overabundant, and they bring warmth inside. Just like how our dear Alice will always console us when we have problems and after we talk to her, we will feel warm because of her kindness."

Shun smirked, "You got nice interpretation there. So that's why you tried to look for her console by gobbling down the cookies?"

Julie pouted at his remark.

"I just wanted to strike a new conversation. But you just have to ruin it, did ya?"

"And what exactly is your point of this "new conversation"? Do you want to associate our friend with food?"

Suddenly Julie's eyes sparkled. Shun knew for this moment he just stepped on a land mine.

"That's it! That's totally the point! Let's compare the others with foods or drinks! Let's see…" she spoke happily as she flipped through the menu. The ninja sighed as he grabbed another piece of cookie. He almost got chocked as the girl shrieked while she held up the menu at acertain page, almost slammed it onto his nose.

"See this, Shun! Don't you think that Runo is just, like, a very hot chocolate? She might burn your tongue if you don't blow the surface properly, but when she finally cools down, you will get the warm and sweet taste in your mouth."

"Typical tsundere," grinned Shun. Julie looked at him quizzically, "What's tsundere?"

"When a person is though and rude at the surface, but all sweet and soft deep down inside. Usually he or she won't admit when he or she likes someone, but he or she might show up him or her tender side at unexpected time."

The girl blinked, "That's so… totally Runo."

"I told you."

Julie stared off-space for a while. And then, almost like she was in a trance, she mumbled, "What kind of food is Dan?"

She looked back at Shun. They kept staring of each other in silent, before finally spoke at the same time.

"He would be meat."

Silence again.

Julie took another sip of her drink, before smiled widely to Shun.

"Oh well, next! Marucho! What food do you think of when you see him?"

Shun took another cookie and throw it into his mouth before answered, "It's obviously honey. He looks plain at first glance, but his sweetness complimented foods and drinks and to have him everyday will get us healthy because of his positive attitude. He also will not rot, and his innocence will stayeven when he reaches adulthood."

"Hooo, it's seems you're so sure he will always stay innocent," Julie smirked as she drank her cappuccino and realized that it was almost empty.

"You're not sure then?"

"Of course I'm as sure as you are. He's the least corrupted from every one of us. And you admit he's sweet."

"Is he not?"

"He's _very _sweet. I won't argue on that. Now on with the topic…" she trailed off as she reached the cookie plate to get the last piece of the cookie, and her fingers brushed off with Shun's as the boy also wanted to get it. Julie quickly pulled her hand away and drank the remaining of her drink instead while Shun took the last cookie and eyed it. He then broke the small cookie into two pieces and offered one piece to the girl. Julie widened her eyes as she looked between the young man, the cookie, and the young man again.

"I don't want you to ogle me when I'm about to finish the cookie, so here is your share."

Shun smirked as he saw the girl blushed and pouted those plump lips of hers. She accepted the cookie nevertheless.

"How cocky. I'm the one who ordered it."

"And you asked me to help you finish it."

"That's—!" she was ready to retort back, but stopped and took a deep breath. She glared at him, but finally ate her share of cookie, Shun followed her action.

"Anyway, back to the topic, I think that you are like vanilla ice cream, Shun."

Suddenly Shun was coughing. He chocked some crumbles that went the wrong way in his throat. His left eye twitched as he eyed the tan skinned girl who looked back at him with worry and confusion. She clearly didn't realize how ridiculous her description of food on him.

He, Shun Kazami, of all things to be compared with food, was a _vanilla ice cream_? He expected something sour like pickled plum or maybe a bland green tea. He was a classic example of traditional ninja in modern lives, after all, just like how green tea was associated and taken as Japanese tradition for some people.

So why _vanilla ice cream_?

"Well, you see—" she stated, "it's obviously because you're cold."

One black eyebrow arched.

"Cold, but you taste sweet. And you also smell great. But again, you'll melt if you're exposed to heat for some times. So, we have to eat you—lick or even biting—as soon as possible, in order to enjoy you the best. You are such a nice, sweet, yet cold treat that will torture our teeth and numbs our taste bud."

Indigo eyes closed in reverie.

"But even though it's already melted, you still carry the sweetness within you. No, in fact, when the ice cream melts, we can taste the true sweetness that isn't numbed by the cold. That's just like you, right?"

Amber eyes widened. The violet orbs opened themselves again to look back at him; plump, glossy lips smiled playfully.

"Beneath your cold demeanor, you're a sweet, caring person. Sometimes we can't get your sweetness and care because you're too cold and your actions hurt us. But when it's all late, when the ice cream is already melting, we just realize how kind and sweet you are."

Silence hung heavily between them. The ex-Subterran Brawlers broke the eye contact, her cheeks flushed and she randomly flipped through the menu. Shun blinked, once, twice, and thrice, and then bowed his head. He felt something that was unfamiliar, something unknown inside him. It felt like his body temperature rose suddenly and someone—or more than one—was punching his stomach. He didn't like this feeling; it was too alien for him. The girl before him always done this to him; he would felt too much emotion; from annoyance to anger to exhaustion to desperation to happiness to disgu—

He was happy. He was happy to hear her thought about him that it felt too much for him to muster and it was sickening him. The thought of her, looking up to him, and noticed his real self, was too nauseating for him. Because he was happy that this girl, whom he used to despise so much, was understanding him.

"Hey…" her soft spice rang looked up at the said girl. She was still looking at the menu, examining the drink section. She didn't meet up his gaze.

"So that you know what I thought about you, what do you think of me?"

The question got him off guard and he almost baffled and embarrassed himself as Julie quickly added, "What kind of food—or drink—you'recomparing me with?"

Suddenly he breathed in relief. Of course it was still about _that_ topic.

He glanced at the menu she held. Suddenly one of the drinks caught his eyes and he smirked.

_This is just like her._

"Well," Shun began as he leaned back to his chair and crossed his arms, "you remind me of lemon."

Julie brought her eyes to the older boy; a dumbfounded look crossed her face.

_Lemon? Why something like sour fruit? Why doesn't he pick something cuter, like, strawberry? Strawberry's also sour, but she has prettier color! Eh, wait, that's not the point, the point is why he picks something __**sour**__? Why not something sweet?_

"Lemon is… sour."

_You don't say!_

"But it has a nice color. With such a bright, yellow color, it's easy to be distinguished amongst other fruits. Just like how you always stand out between us, with your bright and bubbly personality."

Julie didn't really sure she like the 'bubbly' part, but she just kept silent, urged the ninja to continue with his speech.

"And then we cut open the lemon into slices, and seeing the slice and smelling the scent of lemon are making us want to taste it. The look and the scent are so alluring to us, so we taste it without doubt, only to be surprises by the sour taste. We immediately spit it out, and held out our tongue, but as we get used with the taste, we somehow come to like it."

Shun peeked the younger girl. Her eyes were wide open, taking every wordfrom him seriously.

"Your bright personality allured us, but after knowing you better, you're pretty… annoying."

The grayish purple orbs suddenly glared in anger. He just smirked. He really liked to annoy this girl. Maybe because she annoyed him maybe it was given.

"You're bubbly, like to cling to other people, tend to fall into some trouble, likes to meddle with people's business, cry when you don't get what you want, pushing your ideals to other people…But as we put up and get used to it, your existence become something irreplaceable within us."

Julie blushed. She didn't want to because she would look ridiculous, but her face felt so hot and she was sure she was red. Shun glanced at the girl, a small smile formed within his thin lips. He leaned forward, his fingers reached out for the menu she was holding, and pointed at a picture of a drink in the menu. Julie eyed the picture he was pointed at.

"A… lemon… tea?" she asked hesitantly.

His smile just went a bit wider and he looked so stunning with such kind-hearted smile. A rare side of Shun Kazami, that not every one had the privilege to see it. And it fluttered Julie's heart to see him smiling sincerely like this.

"The tea is The Brawlers without you. We are already content with just the five of us. A bit plain, or you can add some sugar for a bit of taste, and you can enjoy the life with just a cup of tea."

His smiled vanished slowly. Julie tried to reach for his hand, but hesitated and just laid her hand a mere inches before his.

"But as you drink it everyday, it becomes a dull taste. No excitement, no spark, just… nothing."

Suddenly he reached out and covered her small hand in his much bigger one. More heat rushed up to her cheeks and Julie could just watch the young man nervously, her mouth agape.

"That's when you come to our life. Just add a slice of lemon and drops of its juice, the flavor becomes… tasteful and refreshing. The tea becomes something new."

The smile reappeared on his face. The same warm, kind, and sincere smile he'd showed to her before. Julie felt like she was at her limit; she was all flustered and to think she was supposed to be the proactive one.

"You completed The Brawlers. You completed our lives. Yes, sometimes you were a bit annoying, sometimes you were too bubbly, but now, our life wouldn't be the same without you."

It was no good; she was on the verge of crying. Shun noticed her glazed eyes, and reached out to his pocket to get a handkerchief. While still held her hand within his, he wiped the unshed tears on her sun-kissed cheeks and her indigo eyes.

What Shun has said really warmed her heart. She was always conscious and afraid that her extrovert and bubbly personality were bothersome to her friends, but she was too afraid to change herself. And then being told by the silent ninja, whom she thought always despise her from being so loud and obnoxious, that she completed the lives of her friends, she felt a huge burden was being released and she never been felt so relieved. She gripped the hold of his hand and shut her eyes, tried to hold back her tears, or else her make-up would smudge.

After some minutes passed by in complete silence, Julie finally calmed herself down. It was lucky that the café was empty, save for the both of them and another couple at the different corner. Julie reluctantly pulled her hand from Shun's grip and grabbed the white handkerchief from his hand, and examined the damage she had done to that thing. There were smudge of powder, foundation, and mascara…. It was going to be hard to be cleaned off.

"Sorry I ruined your handkerchief," she sighed heavily. Shun covered his lips, tried to hide his sneer at her casual remark. As closing act, the girl blew her nose into the cloth. Shun couldn't help but wrinkled his nose at her.

"Yuck."

"I'll wash it."

"Be sure to return it."

"Will do. What about another meeting here, next week? Same day, same hours?"

He thought for a while before answered, "Okay."

They fell into comfortable silent, saved by some sniffs and hiccups of after-cry-effect of Julie. The sniffs and hiccups subsided soon, leaving the girl parched and her throat demanded something to drink. She took the menu and browsed through it. After some minutes, she smiled as she tapped her finger at the picture that was pointed by Shun before.

"I'll order a hot lemon tea. What about you, Shun? Do you still want to order something?"

Shun smirked at the question.

"I'll get vanilla ice cream."

**XXX**

**A/R:** There you are, another chapter of this ridiculous story. It's the longest chapter of **Paradoxical Composition**, I really enjoyed writing this (while I tried so hard to hold back my drools as I wrote the food/drink comparison part), and I hope you enjoy it too :D

I still don't have any idea for the next chapter, maybe you guys can help me? Just write down a random thing you have in mind, and maybe I can make out something from it. Be creative, be challenging ;)


	8. Of Chainsaw Massacre and Protecting

**Paradoxical Composition**

**By: irish d' salmon luver**

**Author's Ramble: **Might get confusing at first, but it's not AU… And the relationship of Shun and Julie is getting more intense that I need to raise the rating to T ;D

… Naah, it's because this chapter contains a bit of violence, blood and gory ;p

**Disclaimer: **After all those years, I still couldn't convince Sega to give the ownership of this series to me :(

**XXX**

**Chapter 08: Of Chainsaw Massacre and Protecting**

It was a chaos.

A girl with silver hair stood in the middle of wasted road. Her long, wavy hair had loosened up from her usual side ponytail. Fire blasted around the girl and her companion; a boy with pitch black hair and light brown eyes. There was no other human sighted around.

There were only "them".

"They" weren't human. Human didn't walk around after they were shot right at the heart. Or after they got their legs broken off with the bones sticking out their rotten flesh. Or had an odd crave for human brains.

Nope, "they" were not human. "They" weren't even living.

"Shun," the girl's trembled voice called out, "We're trapped."

The boy named Shun clenched his gun. A sweat dropped on his handsome face, down to his chin.

"I know that, Julie. I know."

Julie sighed heavily and unconsciously leaned back-to-back with Shun. The boy stiffed at the contact before relaxed a bit.

No one asked 'how this is happened'. They were already tired of fighting for their lives.

It was started off quite nicely. They planned to meet up, not the usual I-bump-to-you-oh-it's-a-coincidence-so-let's-just- go-together. She said she needed his help to look for a gift that a lone, quiet, and anti-social boy would like, who suspiciously resembled his characteristic. He was reluctant at first, of course, but Julie had her own way to pull him up into her bidding, which included threatening to throw away his collection of bird related accessories.

He didn't want to know how she knew about his collection or how she got her hands on his things.

They went to the mall. After wasting about three hours just for window shopping and countless opinion of what should she buy, Julie finally bought something without showing or telling him what it was. And then they went to the park. The blue sky was clear, the sun shone brightly and the weather was good. It was a perfect day to go outside. Julie treated him for an ice cream and they sat together at the fountain.

It felt almost like a perfect date. Except that Shun refused to use the term 'date'. He felt better use the term 'hang out with friend'. He didn't want to get too attached with this overly bubbly girl. They enjoyed their ice cream in silence and after they had finished they began to walk around the busy town. It was still a perfect day.

And then suddenly it turned up like this.

If only they didn't come inside that cursed building, they might be still enjoying the day with mirth and sunshine. They suddenly found themselves in this situation: trapped inside a dead city with deadly plague that turned people into zombies and to their biggest nightmare, they were the only survivor so far. Shun had found a gun while Julie got herself a chainsaw. They were lucky to survive so far, but they knew it wouldn't last long. The ammos were running out, and it was the same as the chainsaw's fuel. The young ninja was lucky enough to found some small throwing knife and a short sword around to defend himself when his ammo was finished.

His musing was disrupted as he felt something grabbed his hand. It was Julie.

"This is… the last round, isn't it?"

Her soft voice cracked into the air. Shun glanced at the sideway, caught a trace of silver tresses at his side. Suddenly his hand ached to touch it, to run his fingers through her hair, stroking it, feeling the smooth feeling on his palm to calm himself.

Shun shuddered at his own thought.

He must be getting desperate, for such thing ever dared to cross his mind. He was never really fond of this girl, why suddenly he wanted to act comfortably around her? He must have getting lenient enough to even tolerate her bubbly and loud existence at his side for hours, without having the need to stab someone for once.

"I'm… afraid… we couldn't make it alive, Shun…"

Her hand was trembling.

"I'm sorry… to drag you into this situation."

She sounded so sad, scared, and desperate.

The black haired boy breathed deeply. He leaned a bit at the girl's back and squeezed back her hand. It was his best body language to say that he was still there with her and he would stay with her throughout this hellish situation.

"I'll protect you."

Julie shifted her head to stare at the Shun's back. She couldn't see his expression, and she was itching to see his face. But their position was very comfortable and she was reluctant to let go of the warmth on her back. She turned her head again, closed her eyes and let Shun continued his words.

"I'll protect you, and I'll make sure we can get out of this situation _alive_."

Suddenly Julie felt the warmth gone and the weight shifted from behind her. Shun had turned his back and spun her around to stare directly into her violet eyes. Determination was evident inside his burning amber orbs.

"I will never let you die. I will protect you. I promise," he spoke softly as he tucked a strand of silver behind her ear. His voice and gesture made the girl blushed slightly. She closed her eyes; a smile spread on her weary face and she clutched her weapon.

"I trust you."

Shun smiled a little, relieved that Julie finally got some spirit back. They were almost at the end; he could feel it. Just a little more and they can get out of this deadly situation. He cocked his gun and eyed his surrounding. A horde of zombie approached them. He counted more than thirty zombies in vicinity. He predicted there would be seventy or more zombies, or maybe hundreds of "them". He counted that his ammo could only last for another fifty three shots, and then he had to rely on his short sword. Throwing knives weren't really good against zombies; it might slow "them", but it couldn't deliver a killing blow. They had to cut off "their" head, crushed "their" skull, or destroyed "their" brain. Julie had cut off uncountable heads; she could rival the beheading Red Queen.

They stood side by side with their hand still intertwined to each other. Julie gave the boy a last squeeze on his hand as she eyed the closing zombies.

"Ready?"

Shun smirked.

"Always."

They let go of each other's hand and took hold of their weapon, ready to face the doomed creatures.

**XXX**

The next scene was brutal.

It was terribly horrendous.

Countless body parts scattered along the road, bathing the asphalt with red color.

Shun had long discarded the gun. His sword glistened with red blood of its victim. He had thrown all of his knives. Julie still gripped the chainsaw tightly. The ninja knew that chainsaw was quite inefficient as it had slow reaction than gun or sword, yet the girl before him could handle the weapon like an expert and had delivered many killing blows to those horrid zombies.

Not that he was sorry for them, though.

They were almost done. Just one more enemy and it was all over. They could escape from this hell hole and back to their old life.

Or so they hoped.

**XXX**

The last enemy was… terrifying. It was the biggest zombie they've ever encountered, and one attack from "it" could be lethal. "Its" punch can hole up the ground, "its" kick could send one flying for some good feet, and once you got yourself bitten by him… well, you ended up being eaten.

It was impossible.

Shun tightened his grip on the handle of his sword until his knuckles turned white. Julie had lost the light of hope on her eyes again. They were stuck; their only chances were to go back to the town filled with only-God-knows-how-much-exactly-those-zombies-whic h-are-hiding-somewhere-beneath-the-dead-city… or facing the mutated zombie.

The boy took a deep breath. It had to be done now or never. He reached out for Julie's hand and held it firmly. She pursed her full lips in an attempt to smile but she couldn't. No one could smile in this state. Instead she gripped his hand hard enough to make Shun winced a bit.

"Don't worry, Julie. Like I've said before, I won't let you die. Not after we've gone this far."

She just merely nodded while hummed "yes" in a soft whisper. Maybe the sight of that creature grossed her so much she could barely talk.

"Here it comes."

The creature swung its large hand and slammed it their direction. It went with a loud bang and crash, and there was a large dent where his fist had slammed the floor. Thanks to Shun's quick reflexes of yanking Julie's hand and dodged to the back, he could prevent both of them to become a mush under the plummeting hand.

"Julie!" he shouted to the girl beside him, "I'm going to distract that monster! You try to get to his back and paralyze that thing! And then we deliver the final blow together, okay?"

Something sparkled inside those gloom purple eyes. Something that Shun didn't really like. But then she nodded and smiled her usual happy smile, making his suspicion vanished and reassured his resolve. Shun dashed to face the monster and took out his short sword while Julie ran as stealthy as she could to her pointed position. He slashed its leg, but the wound is too shallow. He cut some more of its rotten flesh, deeper this time, and blood began to gush put from the wound. He then thrust his sword to his foot and dragged the sword to make a bigger cut, and the monster howled as it began to trip over. Shun watched in horror as the creature fell with a nice, loud "THUMP" sound.

The creature fell on its back, possibly crushing his companion flat on the floor.

"JULIE!"

The boy ran to where the girl supposed to be, but to his surprise he couldn't find her. Not even any trace of her sighted near the creature. Shun eyed the surrounding, trying to find traces of silver hair or bloody chainsaw around, but zero result.

The young ninja was overly deep in his thought that he failed to notice a slight movement from the creature behind him and then the next moment he knew he was thrown away to the air and got yanked again to the ground by large hand grabbed one of his ankle. Before he could catch a breath, giant fists planted on his stomach numerous times and ruptured his ribs. Blood blurred his visions and the last thing he saw was a glint of bloody chainsaw.

—_Player 1 Game Over—_

**XXX**

"YES! I WON!"

Julie danced happily as she successfully finished the last stage of the arcade game "Dead City of Zombies" by beheading the last boss with a nice, clean cut with her trusty "chainsaw". Beside her, a grumpy looking boy gritted his teeth and a scowl plastered over his handsome face.

"You… just used me as decoy…"

The tanned skin girl stopped her dance and looked back at the boy, her eyes were still sparkling over her victory and she was grinning widely.

"Well, you're the one who said that you're going to distract the last boss."

"Distraction, not decoy. Distraction means I altered its attention for a while and you paralyzed it, and then we kill it together. Decoy means you _sacrifice me_—" he hissed, "in order to gain the victory by yourself. You should learn the difference."

Her grin just went bigger.

"And that's exactly what I did. I claimed all the victory to my own credit."

"That wasn't exactly what we planned before we started this game, right?"

"Well~~ you did say that you were going to protect me and would never let me die. And I trusted you to hold up your words, didn't I?"

"But it didn't mean to throw your friend's life just to save your own butt!"

"I thought you also meant it to be 'I won't let you die even though I have to die in order to protect you' kind of thing."

Shun balled his fists. There was no meaning on arguing with this… this… cheating, dumb, egoist, sly, sadistic betrayer!

Julie reached out to touch his arm, but he turned away and gave the girl his cold back. The silver haired girl held out her giggles to see the usual cold, aloof boy suddenly sulked childishly. He really took almost everything seriously, even competing who would get better score at this gory arcade game. But she secretly enjoyed the game, though. They really acted out of this game, as if they were inside the game and working together to slay those zombies. A blush appeared on her tan cheeks as she remembered how Shun held her hand and said that he would protect her. Even if he just said those words out of the atmosphere of the game, she was still happy.

And who knew that holding a chainsaw and beheading zombies could be a great stress reliever?

Julie smiled contently. She was truly happy that Shun were willing to go out with her, even though she needed to blackmail him. But she knew that Shun wouldn't be too angry of such little things like blackmail and cheating. Well, at least that was what she hoped.

The girl reached out to grab his broad shoulders. She moved closer until her lips were just a mere inch away from his right ear.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly into his ear. He shivered a bit.

She let go of his shoulder and walked towards her neglected shopping bags, rummaging the contents until she found what she was looking for. Shun turned his body a little to watch the girl took out a small box with beautiful warp with pictures of phoenix birds. His eyes widen a little; recognition flashed into his eyes. It was the gift she bought before, the one she had wasted three hours to look for it. She smiled sheepishly; pink tints adorned her cheeks as she gave the box to him.

"Here, take this as my apology."

Shun hesitantly took the box from her hand and examined it carefully. He was afraid it would explode. If it was from Julie, everything was possible.

The girl chuckled at his reaction, "Don't worry, it's safe. And…"

She suddenly sauntered the boy and hugged him. Shun nearly dropped the gift because of shock.

"Happy birthday."

The boy went stiff. He almost forgot that today was his birthday. Ever since the death of his mother, he never celebrated anything, not even his own birthday. Yet this girl just took him out of his shell and managed to celebrate his birthday with her own way.

She let go of him and gazed at his eyes.

"Apology accepted?"

Shun blinked.

"Ah, well…"

He turned away from the girl so that she couldn't see him blushing. He was just too happy, even though he didn't want to admit it.

"I guess… I accept your apology for today. But as for other time…" his voice trailed off as he spun again to look back at the girl, "If you cheat again another time, it will take more than a puny gift for me to forgive you, sly girl."

She grinned at his teasing tone.

"I can't guarantee it, Shun. I love getting upper hand from you."

With that, she dashed off from the arcade with her shopping bags, leaving the boy alone. Shun watched her form disappeared between the crowds and then look back to the gift in his hand. He unwrapped the box carefully and opened it. Inside, there was a Japanese style tea mug with phoenix painting. It was one of the finest pottery ever made and the painting was beautifully done it looked like the phoenix was alive. Julie took her time picking his gift was not for nothing. She considered enough to give him a gift that he found useful and it wasn't _pink_. Horror spread to his face as he remembered the gifts she gave to the other Brawlers: _pink_ scarf for Alice, _pink_ knee socks for Runo, _pink_ armband for Marucho, and _pink_ goggles for Dan…

Shun grimaced at the memory before heading out to go after Julie. Outside, he found the girl to stand beside a vending machine, surrounded by four young men. Obviously she was getting hit by them. Shun gritted his teeth and balled his fists as he saw the men flirted with the girl while she just stood there with bored expression. Suddenly one of the men grabbed Julie's hand and tried to pull her with him. Julie stomped his foot with her high heeled shoe and yanked her hand free from his grasp. They other men tried to get a hold of her, but the girl managed to elbowed one man at his chest and landed a kick on another's guts. She grinned victoriously, but the glory didn't last long as the remaining one successfully grabbed her from behind, trapping both of her hands in one hand and his other hand was used to clam her mouth.

On that moment Shun stepped forward.

The next scene was filled with punches, kicks, throwing shuriken and kunai, bloody lips, and bluish eyes. The young men scurried away from the wrath of the young ninja as he helped the girl gathering her things. Shun still had his annoyed look and seeing the girl smiling and chuckling just made him scowling more.

"Why are you laughing? You're just about to get raped, you know?!" he scolded her. Her smile just went wider.

"I can take care of myself."

Shun snapped, "How can you—"

He was cut off as a hand reached out to touch his face. Shun could feel his body went stiff as her hand made contact with his pale cheek. Confused ambers stared at grayish purple orbs. Her plump lips formed a small smile; a smile that instead of annoying him, it made him blush.

"I know you will rescue me."

She let go of him and took a step behind. Shun immediately missed the lingering comfort from her touch, which, unbeknown to him, became something he accustomed to.

"You'll protect me, you said so right?" she said as she took another step backward.

"But… it's only in game—"

"I said that I trust you, right?"

Shun looked at the girl. She still had that small smile, eyes looking straight to him with apparent confidence and faith. He smirked and walked towards her, his right hand reached out to her head and ruffled the silver hair. The girl squirmed under his touched and tried to send a kick to the boy, which he easily dodged. He let go of her soon, noted how smooth her silver hair was, just like how he always imagined it to be. He leaned a little so that he could look at her vis-à-vis.

"Are you always this stupid and naïve?"

She pouted those full lips of her.

"Are you saying that you won't protect me, your _dearest_ friend?"

He grimaced, "And who said that you are my _dearest_ friend?"

Her lips began to quiver and her eyes began to water. This was a bad sign.

"Hey," he sighed, "I'm just joking, so please don't cry, okay?"

She just nodded meekly. Shun sighed again before he took her shopping bags into his hand and offered his other hand to the girl. She looked at his hand and then stared at him questioningly.

"Come one, I'll take you home."

She looked back to his hand and pink tints adorned her cheeks. The boy blushed too to see her reaction, feeling embarrassed himself as she just stood there, her head bowed down and she bit back her plump lips. He quickly took her hand and pulled her along with her. She yelped at the sudden act, but following him nevertheless.

They walked together in silence, hand-in-hand. Some passersby looked at them, even commenting how 'cute' they were together. Julie's face became redder in embarrassment to hear those comments while Shun just stared ahead, trying to act nonchalant yet the girl knew he was nervous and embarrassed too, judging by how his hand became sweaty and shaking.

"Shun," she called his name slowly, almost afraid to break the silence, "There's no need to hold hands if it makes you uncomfortable, you know?"

His hold tightened as he turned to face the silver haired girl.

"You trust me to protect you, right? If we are to hold hands like this, those perverted bastards won't try to get you because they thought you're already taken. So you just shut up and act like we're a couple, okay?"

He turned his head away as blush crept onto his chiseled cheeks. Julie stared at him with wide eyes before smiled happily as she grabbed his hand and moved closer to him. Shun went rigid at the close contact, too much for his comfort, but let her do as she please. After all, he already said that he would protect her from perverts by acting like her boyfriend, so acting a bit more intimate was permitted this time.

**XXX**

**A/R: **Heck, this chapter took longer than what I was planning to. It seems that the chapters are getting longer and longer, I don't know if it's getting better or worse. That zombie killing spree took up too much part… but I don't regret it. I'm always a zombie apocalypse fan :D

And since this chapter is long, I don't really bother to check the grammars or typos. If you find some mistakes please point it out to me so I can correct it.

Anyway, thanks for **Winter Coma** for the idea and support. Your words really push me to work harder to make more interesting stories and I wish I can live up to your expectation :)

And from now on, I'm asking you guys to give me random stuffs as the next chapter's inspiration. Just write a thing or two in review, and see what I can come up with ideas from you. Till next time…


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